An open-air auditorium will be built next to the chapel of Nossa Senhora da Encarnação, in Carvoeiro. The work, which should cost 110 euros, was announced this Friday during the official inauguration of the neighboring walkway between Algar Seco and the remains of the Nossa Senhora da Encarnação Fort.
But there are more novelties: the 570-metre wooden walkway will be illuminated, but using lamps that will be placed on the floor, «almost present» and using solar energy.
Next to the chapel, the playground will be moved to a vacant lot next to the school, which the Council and the Union of Parishes of Lagoa and Carvoeiro discovered belonged to the public farm. This change will make it possible to transform the entire promontory where the chapel is located into a gardened living area with one of the most beautiful views of the entire Algarve coast.
Also the former Fiscal Guard post, even next to the hermitage, should become an observatory to be used by tourists.
All these news were announced at the end of the inauguration of the wooden walkway, which was attended by Nuno Lacasta, president of the Portuguese Environment Agency, vice-president Manuela Matos, director of APA/ARH in the Algarve, Sebastião Teixeira, presidents the Câmara de Lagoa, the Union of Parishes of Lagoa and Carvoeiro, among other entities.
Nuno Lacasta pointed out that, more than just an inauguration, it was about «delivering to the whole population, symbolically, an infrastructure that is very important», above all so that everyone can enjoy «this coast that is extraordinary».
The many tourists and residents who were already using the bridge, even before the official opening, were amazed by that sea of people, more or less in suits, that covered the 570 meters of the new structure at sunset. Many stayed in one of the rest areas created along the route, where two young people played the saxophone.
At the end of an embarrassed summer's day, people of all ages were walking along the walkway, some of them with mobility difficulties, mothers and fathers with baby carriages – like the Mayor of Lagoa himself -, people in wheelchairs. “This walkway is a success!”, confirmed Joaquim Paulo, president of União de Freguesias.
Francisco Martins, Mayor of Lagoa, in turn, highlighted the fact that the work is a partnership between the Municipality and the APA/ARH «which has yielded very good results». “We rolled up our sleeves, we worked together, we met the deadlines”, stressed, for his part, Nuno Lacasta.
The second phase, which includes the lighting of the walkway, the amphitheater and the landscaping next to the church, will, for now, be supported by the Câmara de Lagoa, «but we are seeing if there will be any fund that we can apply for». Although these projects already existed when the bridge was launched, the construction of the amphitheater did not fit into the background then used, which had to be left out.
But the Câmara de Lagoa and its Environment department do not stop there, in terms of projects. Preliminary studies have already begun to launch a second section of the wooden walkway, this time to cover the kilometer or so between Algar Seco and Vale Covo, to the east.
The launch of a second pedestrian route along the coast is also being studied, joining the one of the Sete Vales Suspensos, which connects the beaches of Marinha and Vale Centeanes. This time, it will be a route connecting Ponta do Altar and the Vale Lapa watchtower, on the westernmost section of the Lagoon coast. But all this, explained the mayor Francisco Martins, will be left for "a hypothetical third phase".
After covering the 570 meters of the bridge, between Algar Seco and the fort, it was time to unveil, next to the little church, a poster with images of the future open-air amphitheater. Except that one of the ropes that held the sign was stuck at the top and there was no way to get the images out.
It was there that Joaquim Paulo, president of the Union of Parishes of Lagoa and Carvoeiro, decided to live up to his military past and nimbly climbed the metal structure at the back of the billboard to release the attached rope. And he did all this like a true James Bond, as not a wrinkle left his elegant gray suit. In the end, of course, the mayor received applause from both the inauguration's delegation and from some tourists, national and foreign, who followed with curiosity what was happening there.
This, which is one of the most beautiful stretches of the Algarve coast, featured in tourist guides, used to be, before the creation of the wooden walkway, traveled by about 500 people a day. But now, with safety conditions and, above all, accessibility for all, will be even more users.
The work was financed under the Litoral Program and cost 212 thousand euros. Its opening is part of the European Mobility Week, which is celebrated for the first time in the municipality of Lagoa.
This morning, there are varied activities on Rua da Escola, in Carvoeiro, right next to the footbridge, and there was also a walking tour through the Sete Vales Suspensos. On Monday, European Car Free Day, it will be Ferragudo's turn to host many activities.
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